Section 3 - Educating and Partnering for CEDAW

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Gender-fair education “Gender-fair education,” says De Guzman, “is an approach that means tailoring teaching to challenge inequities and discrimination on the basis of sex.” Equality is a key principle of gender-fair education. For one, it underscores that women and men are born equal and so should have equal opportunities in life. It also weaves together issues of social class, ethnicity, age and of sexual orientation as it seeks to address historical marginalization of people. These principles also emphasize that all students should have access to gender-fair education with programmes and policies designed based on interests and abilities rather than gender. The principles of gender-fair education • Women and men are born equal and so should have equal opportunities in life. • All students should have access to a gender-fair education with programmes and policies designed based on students’ interests and abilities, regardless of gender. • A gender-fair education programme should be able to address the historical marginalization of people based on gender and sexual orientation, e.g. the marginalization of heterosexual women, lesbians and gays. • A gender-fair education incorporates issues of sexual orientation, social class, ethnicity and age. • A gender-fair education is built on a foundation of collaboration and cooperation among students, educational organizations and other relevant institutions. • Gender-fair education requires sensitivity, determination, commitment and vigilance. Source: Reyes, Zenaida Q. 2003, “An Agenda for Gender-Fair Education”. Paper delivered at a Conference on Human RIghts Education in Asian Schools, Osaka, Japan. http://www.hurights.org.jp/hreas/3/11reyes.htm This reform trajectory toward gender-fair education compels advocates to review and revise various aspects of the educational system. UPCWS identifies at least four areas that need to be looked at: (1) academic programmes, (2) teaching strategies and daily practices in the classroom, (3) syllabi and curricular programmes, and (4) school policies. 118
Why review and revise In each of these areas, one could find ideas, beliefs, practices, behavior, and so forth that convey, reinforce, perpetuate and/or aggravate gender-based discrimination and marginalization. Course titles, objectives, content, as well as reading materials and class activities may reflect “taken-for-granted” gender biases. One example cited as sexist course title is “History of Mankind.” As a part of their initiative, UPCWS developed a “Checklist of Guide Questions,” which suggests steps in addressing discrimination in the educational system. (See Annex 1: Addressing sexism and discrimination in the educational system - Checklist of Guide Questions) The 2Rs of gender-fair education: REVIEW and REVISE • Academic programmes and practices, including teaching materials (e.g. history textbooks that are organized around men’s experience only) • Teaching strategies and daily practices in the classroom (e.g. those that marginalize women) • Syllabi and curricular programmes – to reflect the issues and experiences of the wider society, including those who have been silenced and marginalized • School policies and programmes that are discriminatory Why CEDAW in the curriculum With the help of UNIFEM and CIDA, UPCWS pushed forward with its processes and advocacy for gender-fair education. CEDAW served as the primary framework for review and revision as well as re-strategizing and re-tooling. According to UPCWS, the emphasis on CEDAW signifies a shift from a needs-based approach to a rights-based approach. For De Guzman, the shift to a rights-based approach enhances the principles of gender and development (GAD). She agrees with CEDAW Experts that this is best done “by precisely anchoring women’s right to equality and to better life chances in an internationally, legally-binding covenant that recognizes women’s de facto equality in rights in all spheres.” (Dairiam, Shanthi. 2005, “The Relevance of the Links between Human Rights, BPFA and MDG.” UN CEDAW Expert Group Meeting, Azerbaijan.) Explaining the link between CEDAW’s rights-based framework and curriculum reform, De Guzman says, “integrating women’s concerns and issues of sexism, discrimination and concepts of rights – human rights and women’s rights – in the academic curriculum is unavoidably part of curriculum reform. More than just updating the academic curriculum, curriculum reform aims to address historical marginalization and exclusions advanced, whether intentionally or not, by and through the educational system.” 119
Page 1 and 2: 105
Page 3 and 4: Section 3 Introduction Partnership
Page 5 and 6: Chapter 1 Discovering CEDAW Among t
Page 7 and 8: Programme for Multi-stakeholder Con
Page 9 and 10: The proposed strategies and interve
Page 11 and 12: While using CEDAW as a major instru
Page 13 and 14: NCRFW, for its part, had brought CE
Page 15: Chapter 2 Teaching CEDAW It’s bee
Page 19 and 20: Reyes, former head of the Center fo
Page 21 and 22: of respondents who agreed that “R
Page 23 and 24: In this respect, there is a recomme
Page 25 and 26: Steps Integration of topics in the
Page 27 and 28: Week Main Text Major Themes/Issues
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 3 Putting the “pop” in
Page 31 and 32: Other than the reel feminist experi
Page 33 and 34: however, was not supported by the C
Page 35 and 36: Each CEDAW story has a paragraph ab
Page 37 and 38: To have or not to have sex educatio
Page 39 and 40: CEDAW primers The primer was taken
Page 41 and 42: to come right in and partake in the
Page 43 and 44: pre-opening with a motorcade. 15 ve
Page 45 and 46: “Say NO to violence against women
Page 47 and 48: Chapter 4 Doing CEDAW with the UN G
Page 49 and 50: These mechanisms have created strat
Page 51 and 52: • Coordination with concerned uni
Page 53 and 54: Gender and Human Rights-Based Gover
Page 55 and 56: The UN-GMC members facilitated thei
Page 57 and 58: Peer learning on applying CEDAW The
Page 59 and 60: Gender Integration Framework Excerp
Page 61 and 62: CEDAW going local with indigenous,
Page 63 and 64: • A matrix mapping Muslim women i

Section 3 - Educating and Partnering for CEDAW

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?